"If a man says something silly, other men say "What a fool that man is." If a woman says something silly, men say "What fools women are."
Nobody could meet the standards that some of the Sisterhood's critics seem to expect of them. Why is it that, out of all of the characters in the strip, they're the ones whose every word and action gets dissected?

Well, speaking only for myself, it's because I'm not sure if the Sisterhood is meant to be silly or not. They were not introduced as such, and I've sorta been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

But, you're right, I would never call Slick or Squigley silly because they're men. (This is sarcasm, BTW)_________________A MtG Webcomic

Actually the Sisterhood was originally introduced very tongue-in-cheek. It's only in the middle that Tat decided he wanted to pursue some issues a little more straightforward, because they're serious issues that he didn't want to make light of...Plus the way it could move his story forward and development possibilities for his characters.

Strips like this just show that sometimes the Sisterhood are just people who have their own schtick just like the other Sinfest players. The "dump him" is more comical to me, as it's just a repetition of the Sisterhood's personal joke. I don't think it's meant to be as over-analyzed as people do here. =P_________________ My Art

I'm not sure if the Sisterhood is meant to be silly or not. They were not introduced as such

Popping in to point out the fact that you're actually, quite literally, wrong!

Fact of the matter is, the Sisterhood was literally introduced as a silly, one-shot joke. Namely evidenced by the fact that their goal was to doll Seymour up in make-up because Nique essentially asked them to.

Their dramatic come-back, years later, that often associate as being their initial introduction - which it is not - was initially a silly one. It is reminiscent of many strips wherein one character is completely awe-struck by how completely out there the actions or speech of the other character happened to be. In this case, Nique was in awe - and notably not really given a chance to speak for herself - by Xanthe's assertions in regards to Nique's attire and ignorance to how her attire came to appear that way. It played similarly to quite a few strips with Seymour in them. However, after that it became more ambiguous. Were they silly? Were they not silly? I personally felt like they were, up until the first sunday strip any of them appeared in, and someafter that were, but not everyone agrees with such notions.

Joined: 09 Jul 2006Posts: 9718Location: I have to be somewhere? ::runs around frantically::

Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 5:54 pm Post subject:

This strip made me lol. Everyone likes seeing their own things in the cloud/puppets._________________Before God created Las he pondered on all the aspects a woman might have, he considered which ones would look good super-inflated and which ones to leave alone.
After much deliberation he gave her a giant comfort zone. - Michael

Popping in to point out the fact that you're actually, quite literally, wrong!

I'm sorry. I should have said "the characters Anti-Porn Activist, Xanthe Justice, Tess and so on" instead of "the Sisterhood."

I'm not sure if they're meant to be silly or not because they certainly SEEM like the only non-silly characters in the whole strip (which--to some extent--makes them silly for being not-silly).

I mean, if you guys are intent on jumping down my throat for saying I'm not sure how to interpart the aforementioned characters, that's fine. But, I still don't know how to interpart them, and I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop with them. Or, as you said, for them to become silly (again?).

I mean, do most people HERE think they're being silly or serious in this strip?_________________A MtG Webcomic

I'm really happy to see God again, he's always been one of the most hilarious characters around.
The Sisterhood just seemed unimpressed with him, though, which is no surprise since they don't seem to be impressed by anything... I'm hoping they'll meet Buddha sometime though, I think they'd get along... interestingly.

They're being silly and saying things they believe. It's like sitting around a TV with your friends and making side comments about the commercials.

Imagine a commercial for a delicious drink comes on the screen. The screed goes, "Low in calories, big in taste! Will make you svelte and get you laid! And when you order it in restaurants it'll look just like this!" Cue picture of a frothy bright colored drink with immaculate whipped cream and small sweet fruit toppings.

Imagine you and/or your friends have ordered what was supposed to be that drink, and received something that tasted of dirt, old moldy leaves and butter with melted cream substance dribbled down the side and hard nubby fruit bits that appear to have been pelted at it from some distance away.

You all might make fun of the commercial because reality is incongruent with the advertising.

Now if the company making this drink also happens to stomp on something you care about, then your commentary may be even more snarky and bitter. Perhaps they destroyed your favorite rainforest, or put a more worthy drink company out of business. Maybe you tried to get hired there and they literally told you, "No way fuckface!" - and when you tried to get a change.org petition going, no one signed it because the company decided to publically destroy your name._________________::crisis mode::

I'm not sure if they're meant to be silly or not because they certainly SEEM like the only non-silly characters in the whole strip

Well, I don't know. The fact that it's confirmed that Xanthe is, in fact, the girl who said, word for word, SQUEE! AREN'T WE PRECIOUS! pretty much says cements her as being a silly character, no debate, at the very least. She's clearly more grounded than any other character, of course, and is more often than not portrayed as not being very silly, because to her she has a very important job to do which does not give her time to be very silly. Interpreting them is not actually that difficult. You're supposed to see them as Characters In A Comic. Bound to change over time to how the author sees fit. That's it. There's nothing else to it.

They are a bunch of girls who feel as though they have a very important job to do, and set aside their own feelings and their own personal time and fun to do it. But when they are among each other, which is admittedly not very often, it's obvious that they are as silly as any other character. And essentially, the more simplest way to view how you're supposed to interpret them is that they are Silly Characters Used For Serious Situations. They're a bunch of feminists that ride trikes. I don't know how seriously you're supposed to take a character that rides around on a tricycle.

For example; Xanthe is a character who unironically uses terminology coined from the internet, such as lol, or the feels and sees nothing silly about this. She writes simplistic parody fiction, likes cute things and loves her grandmother. Feels passionately about her tricycle and says things like SQUEE! AREN'T WE PRECIOUS and takes about power dynamics. None of the other members of the sisterhood, except for Nana, are really as established as Xanthe is - as people AND characters. There's not much, if anything, to get from them, except they're Xanthe's friends, and goof off with her here and there.

But MAN, I dunno where you're getting the idea that people are jumping down your throat. Since nobody is really doing that at all??? 0_0 like, we're literally just giving our opinion on the matter and I'm literally just informing you on what's what. And I'm pretty sure that so far, everyone pretty much agrees that yeah the sisterhood are being silly in this strip._________________Character Chart | Terminology Dictionary | Flashback Strips

She's clearly more grounded than any other character
...
they are as silly as any other character.

I'm pretty sure these statements can't both be true.
But, I've lost the will to disagree.

Miss Magenta wrote:

But MAN, I dunno where you're getting the idea that people are jumping down your throat. Since nobody is really doing that at all??? 0_0 like, we're literally just giving our opinion on the matter and I'm literally just informing you on what's what. And I'm pretty sure that so far, everyone pretty much agrees that yeah the sisterhood are being silly in this strip.

I felt this was a little bit of an extreme response to my post:

Ronald wrote:

Lich Mong wrote:

It is a little silly that their solution to just about everything is "dump him."

Exactly how many Sinfest characters don't have something "a little silly" about them?
To paraphrase somebody or another from somewhere (seriously, if I knew who or from where I was paraphrasing, I'd provide the credit):
"If a man says something silly, other men say "What a fool that man is." If a woman says something silly, men say "What fools women are."
Nobody could meet the standards that some of the Sisterhood's critics seem to expect of them. Why is it that, out of all of the characters in the strip, they're the ones whose every word and action gets dissected?
Plus, again, they're making sardonic comments to each other while, in effect, watching a play. They're not trying to impress anybody with wisdom, not even each other.

I feel like every time I say anything on these board the response is "why are you so sexist?" I mean, if I call the Sisterhood silly it means I'm sexist?(now that's the cue for someone to quote this and say 'yes')

Then I say they're NOT silly and YOU, Miss Magenta, tell me I've got it all wrong.

Now, I understand that these boards aren't some monolithic entity, but it's daunting to have "the regulars" disagree with me when I say the Sisterhood is silly and then disagree with me when I say they're not. (but not disagree with each other)_________________A MtG Webcomic

I'm thinking maybe he thought you were using the word silly with a different context, like silly can either mean "this isn't particularly logical" or, what I think we're both referring to the "goofy and entertaining" definition of the word. Regardless of whether or not he did or didn't, he still isn't really jumping at your throat?? 0_0 Ronald's response is pretty chill, expressing his opinion in a chillax fashion.

But yeah, it's definitely possible to be a more grounded person than someone else, an entire group of people maybe, but just as silly as someone else. My mom is pretty much living proof of such a thing. But what I meant that they are - in terms of personality, more grounded most of them, but when they actually are allowed to have time off from what they feel is their job they are just as silly as any other character is in terms of how they chose to have their fun.

I'm not saying you're wrong about how you're supposed to interpret them as characters, I am expressing that I disagree with you on the matter, but rather am telling you that you're wrong in regards to them not being introduced as silly when that's actually contradictory to how they were initially introduced._________________Character Chart | Terminology Dictionary | Flashback Strips

I guess you and I should just agree to disagree on the current level of silliness for the Sisterhood. Since I remain unconvinced that they are--genrally speaking--meant to be silly.
(And I mean that in the "goofy and entertaining" sense, just so that's clear.)_________________A MtG Webcomic

In retrospect, that strip kind of makes me wonder about what it's saying about Slick and Crim's friendship. Did Crim just out of nowhere start talking about atheism (I doubt that God's performance put him in mind of it, since few things could be more unatheistic than the sight of a "devil" and an "angel" quarreling in the sky)?

If so, notice how Slick just rolls with it without missing a beat. One could read it as implying that Crim regularly waxed educational at a moment's notice (he probably doesn't do that any more) and Slick was familiar enough with this habit to not even think about it.

But MAN, I dunno where you're getting the idea that people are jumping down your throat.

Some people (I'm not saying this is true of Lich Mong in particular) interpret any sort of disagreement at all as an attack, possibly because to not accept their every word as brilliant is by their definition a clear sign of hostility. From their perspective, you must be reacting irrationally, because if you were reacting calmly and reasonably, how could you possibly be disagreeing with them in the first place?!

Not entirely unlike (tangent here) how some self-identified Christians get bent out of shape about being wished "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" and actually label that sort of thing "discrimination." "Happy Holidays" applies to pretty much everybody, thus implying that these self-identified Christians consider being treated like everybody else to be, by definition, discriminatory. Which may or may not reveal quite a bit about how they treat everybody else...